


Insanity

by CALLEN37



Category: NCIS: Los Angeles
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-31
Updated: 2013-03-31
Packaged: 2017-12-07 02:07:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/742913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CALLEN37/pseuds/CALLEN37
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Second in the Madness, insanity and Salvation trilogy. Callen and Nell are ready to reveal their relationship but events conspire against them. Nellan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It had been three months since Callen had had his epiphany regarding Nell. They still had not told the team about Nell's pregnancy, as she had wanted to wait until she was past the three-month stage.

Nell woke up with Callen's arms wrapped around her, his hands on the bump that was beginning to show.

He kissed her cheek, "Good morning sleepyhead." He smiled as she stretched looked at him and a look of horror crossed her face as she ran to the bathroom. He chuckled. "That's every morning this week, they are going to notice you know."

Nell walked in glaring at him, with a toothbrush in her mouth. She leaned over, pulled on her pants, and then sat frustrated on the bed.

"Nell?" he asked.

"I'm huge! How can they not tell?" She wailed.

He placed his arms around her. "Nell, you are beautiful, you are not fat you are carrying our child."

She wiped her eyes and sniffed.

He handed her a dress, "Come on honey, we need to go in and today we are going together, I've told Hetty I need to see her. We'll tell her first and then we will tell the team ok?"

Nell put the dress on, the weather was nice and she did feel more comfortable in it. She looked at Callen and smiled.

He left her getting dressed while he went to the kitchen to make her a bowl of peanut better with two chocolate bars, which he broke up and placed in the bowl with whipped creme "Yuk!" he shuddered but he left it on the counter for her breakfast; it seemed to be the thing she wanted most of all this week.

"Honey!" she smiled as she saw it. She sat and ate it as he silently cringed.

He grabbed his coffee and they walked to the car.

* * *

Kensi and Deeks were at their desks going over those weeks' reports, as Sam finished another report Callen had forgotten to file.

Deeks looked up and then at his watch, "Anyone heard from Callen, he's late."

Kensi looked up as both the man in question and their technical analyst came into work.

"Morning G," Sam said as Callen sank into his chair.

"Sam…" Callen turned and looked at his team, "What?"

"Is something wrong…you never come in last and you've been leaving early for the past month, are you running an undercover op we don't know about."

"No!" Callen smiled.

"Mr. Callen, you wanted to see me?" Hetty said, "As it happens I need to see you…My Office." She herded him in that direction as the others looked on.

"We've had a situation come up, an old case of yours when you were with the DEA, The Michelli Cartel have managed to track down one of your aliases we need you to go to ground until Marco Michelli is found, he was the one who threatened to kill you and your family. Marshall Johnson is here to put you into protective custody." She said.

"Hetty!" Callen said, He stood up and backed out into the hallway. "No way, I'm not going I can't!" he said shaking his head.

Sam stood up and walked over to the group. "G?" He asked concerned.

"I can't go with him…I can't protect them if you've got me locked up Hetty!" Callen said still backing away.

"Agent Callen, I can understand your reticence to going into the WPP but we can't protect you on the outside." Johnson said.

"No you don't understand…" Callen looked frantically up at Ops. However, Nell was nowhere to be seen.

"Agent Callen, Marco Michelli is a credible threat; once he found out who you were he's murdered three of your last sets of foster parents trying to find information on you. This man has no conscience and if you do have any family he will kill them."

"He doesn't…" Sam said.

"I do…and they need protecting but I don't." Callen snapped.

* * *

Sam, Hetty and the rest of the team stopped and looked at him stunned. "You have family?" Hetty said, hoping this meant Callen had found his missing father or another family member.

"My girlfriend and our unborn child." He said, "I need you to promise that you will protect her and hide her so well even I won't find her." Callen said to Johnson.

"NO!" Nell yelled from the stairs, having heard the end of the conversation. She ran down the stairs tears streaming from her face. "You can't do this!"

The others looked on shocked as Callen gathered Nell into his arms gently shushing her and kissed the top of her head. "Nell, please, I need to keep you both safe." Callen pleaded with her.

Eric, from his vantage point in the gallery watched as his heart broke. He had still hoped that there could have been something between them even though she had been pulling away since they kissed at Christmas.

The others were just staring.

"Nell, Hun, you need to go back to our place and pack a bag and go with him, when it's safe I'll find you both."

"Both?" Hetty asked really hoping Callen was not going to say his next words. "She's pregnant." He said.

Callen had never seen Hetty really, mad before and after today, he hoped he never would again. She pulled herself up and became four feet of pure fury. "Mr. Callen….A word." She hissed and pointed to a side room.

Reluctantly Callen let go of Nell's hand and followed his furious boss inside.

* * *

"SIT!" she said.

Callen, not one to poke a furious bear sat.

"Just what has been going on here?" She asked. She was beyond mad. Nell was her protege and her youngest. She had been grooming Nell for her job. Fraternization between colleagues although not forbidden was definitely frowned upon.

"I fell for Nell, she loves me and we are having a baby!" Callen said stubbornly. "And until this morning things were perfect."

"Did it not occur to you that in your job, this is a risky business…Also the fact that Nell is your subordinate?"

"She works in the Technical dept. she is not my subordinate, she's Eric's….No one complained when they thought she was dating him!" Callen growled.

"She's more his age." Hetty argued.

Callen stood up and kicked his chair. "She loves me!"

"This Mr. Callen is the reason that you two should not be together with your past and the Comescu's plus all the other people wanting you dead do you think it is fair on her, does she know what she's getting?" Hetty asked. She hated doing it but he needed to see how dangerous this could be for them both.

Callen looked at her with more hurt in his eyes than she had ever seen, "I…I'm not good enough for her?" he backed up to the door. All the insecurities he had quashed when he had allowed himself to fall in love came bubbling up to the fore. "You are right as usual…Keep her safe." He said. He opened the door and walked past the whole group. He threw his badge and gun onto his desk, grabbed his car keys and ran out of the building.

* * *

"G!" Nell cried as she saw her lover run from her. She stood up and whirled on Hetty. "What. Did. You. Say?" She said.

"I explained to Mr. Callen that he wasn't good enough for you and that his relationship with you put both you and your unborn child at risk." Hetty said calmly.

Nell turned and went to hit Hetty only to be stopped by Sam, Kensi and Deeks holding her back. "My dear, for your own safety I needed to get Mr. Callen as far away from you both as possible. Marco Michelli is an evil man and will without a doubt kill you to get to him." She said trying to explain her position.

"So you did that by playing on every insecurity he ever had?" Nell said stunned.

"Miss. Jones, it is what motivates him." Hetty said unapologetically. "Now, Ms. Blye if you would go with Miss Jones and help her retrieve some of her belongings she will be going with Marshall Johnson into the Witness Protection Program." She ordered.

Eric watched from his vantage point on the balcony, not only had he lost the woman he was secretly in love with, but also he had lost his partner and best friend all in one day. Worse to come was the later realization that he would not see her or Callen in the building again for another year.

 


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a year since anyone had seen Callen, Nell had gone into the Witness Protection Program and the Office of special projects had suffered from the loss of its team leader.

Eric had facial recognition software running everyday since he had walked out of the mission, but no one had seen him.

Periodically members of the Michelli Cartel were found tied up with a bag of evidence lying next to them. However, none of them was talking. Rumors were going around about a man, who could be anyone who had no conscience and was out to destroy the cartel.

The latest two were found tied to a bollard on the docks by the USS Washington. They had been seen trying to sell to sailors leaving the ship. For a week, NCIS had been watching them and then they had disappeared. This morning they were tied to the bollard with the evidence in a box at their feet. Both men had been beaten and bound and neither would talk about the man who had captured them.

Sam and Rob looked at the men, Rob Dawson the newest addition to the team leant in the corner quietly watching as Sam interrogated the two men.

"Come on, if you can't give us a name at least give us a description of the man who did this to you." Sam growled.

"He's a ghost…He's no one." The man said fearfully.

"He's been taking members of your cartel down for a year, someone knows who he is."

The other man looked around, "His name is Feral. That is all I know. He is talked about as a threat in our organization, it is said he is dangerous, he lost everything and his only goal is to take out the cartel."

Rob looked at Sam, "Feral?"

Sam shrugged as they left the room. "Eric we are looking for a vigilante known as Feral."

Eric started tapping into his computers. "There's nothing. No photos just a few entries with local Leo's where members of the Michelli cartel have been captured. Apparently, he has a deadly aim; he never stays in the same place twice. No one knows where he's based…there's nothing on him, not even any DNA evidence when he leaves evidence of their crimes.

Rob was frustrated, although he was the newest addition to the team, no one really talked about the agent whose shoes he was filling. Although occasionally Sam would get annoyed and call him G. Then go off to brood for a while. He didn't know what had happened to the team before he got there, but whatever it was, they were still hurting from it.

* * *

Deeks and Kensi sat going through all the information as scant as it was. "This is frustrating!" Kensi said, "How can there be nothing on this guy. It's like he doesn't exist, someone, somewhere must know him!"

Hetty walked through to her office, Since Callen's departure the team still looked up to her as the boss, but the trust they'd had in her was missing. They would be polite, she was after all, Hetty, but Rob could sense and undercurrent of uneasiness with his new team and frankly he wanted out. Like all the other replacements they'd had, he walked into her office and handed her an envelope. Then to her surprise, he took it back. "Mr. Dawson?" Hetty said surprised.

"I don't know what happened to this team Hetty, but I was all set to quit today. I don't know, something is telling me I should stay, for a while and then maybe, I can help. I have wanted to work with this team for years, you were the best, but something is wrong here. As Operations manager, don't you think you should fix it?" He asked.

Kensi and Deeks looked up surprised; no one dared talk to Hetty like that…not since….

Hetty looked at her newest team member. She would have ripped anyone else a new one. However, she knew that Rob was the SecNav's nephew and did have his ear. Even though she hadn't informed the team of that fact.

* * *

An ear-shattering whistle pierced the air.

"Guys! You have to see this….I found him!" Eric said practically bouncing with excitement.

They all ran into ops, Sam, who had just entered bringing up the rear.

"Ok Eric, who have you found?" Rob asked leaning against the table.

"Callen…I've found Callen!" Eric said pulling up footage, "It's from a new security camera inside the warehouse across from where the cartel members were left.

The two cartel members were seen being walked at gunpoint to the bollards and a very scruffy and bruised Callen was holding them both at gunpoint. One man tried to escape and Callen hit him with a roundhouse kick whilst still holding his gun unwavering on the other member who tied his friend up and then sat as Callen knocked him out and then tied him up.

Callen then put his guns in his back and with a slight limp walked off. He came back a moment later with the box and stopped as he saw the police cars approaching, he grabbed a plastic bag from his pocket, put his guns inside and tucked it back in the small of his back. With one last glance at the perps on the dock, he dove off the pier into the sea.

"He's hurt…Look." Sam said pointing to the knife wound that could clearly be seen on his leg.

"Is he….Feral?" Rob asked.

"The name would fit." Kensi said, "After what happened, it's what he would use." She said looking pointedly at Hetty.

"Eric we should check nearby doctors and hospitals. He'll go there for help if he's hurt." Rob said.

Sam laughed, "That's the last place G'll go if he's hurt."

"What do we know about him, does he have any family he'd go to?" Rob asked.

"No he's exactly what the name implies he's gone feral…" Hetty said sadly.

"And whose fault was that!" Sam snapped. Walking out and heading to the gym.

"Mr. Hanna, we have another problem…" Hetty said stopping him in his tracks. "Miss Jones' protection detail was found murdered this morning. She's missing."

The team looked at each other.

* * *

Callen took the bottle of bourbon he had brought and the medical supplies he had lifted when he broke into a clinic and took them back to the derelict warehouse he had been hiding in. he stitched the gash in his leg up, drinking about as much bourbon as he had poured on his leg. He checked that he couldn't be seen from the outside by anyone randomly walking past. He pulled out his tattered photograph of Nell standing sideways in his old home, her hand resting on her belly, although not evident in the photograph, he knew she had known she was pregnant at that point, it was the day before all hell had broken loose. He still had the bug he had planted under the large pot plant that stood in the corner of the bullpen, he had used it for a year to find out where members of the cartel were so he could get them first. He listened as his team members went about their day-to-day lives, He had heard their fights after he'd left. Nevertheless, as Hetty had reminded him he was a liability and the threat to Nell was his fault, the only way he could save her and their unborn child (Although he was sure he had a son or daughter now.) was to take the threat out.

He cursed as he heard Eric's proclamation that he'd found him, he was sure he'd taken out the entire security cameras in the area before dropping off his latest prizes to the police.

He'd slept a little, dreaming as usual of her and sometimes their child.

Later he awoke and went through his morning exercise program, he looked beaten and scruffy on the outside but physically he was in top condition. He put the targets up along the room he trained in and started running through his calisthenics soon he was finished, sweaty he walked to the old shower in the back of the building, it had no heating but the water was wet and cleaned him well enough. He took his guns out and started cleaning them, checking the ammunition and turned the bug back on.

"How could this have happened?" Sam's voice boomed in the room. Callen smiled, the new guy must be annoying him again.

"Nell was safe!" Sam continued. Callen's head shot up.

"We don't know all the details yet, we know she isn't dead, but it looks like the cartel found her." Hetty voice came over the speaker.

Callen grabbed his bag and ran for his jeep.

Twenty minutes later, he stood outside the mission watching. Grabbing his bag, he took a deep breath and walked inside.

Rob Dawson looked up as he heard the doors go. The bullpen was on alert as the newest team member stood staring at the entrance and pulled his gun.

Callen walked straight by him and walked up to Hetty and pulled his gun on her. "Where was she?" He snarled. "Where did they put her?"

 


	3. Chapter 3

Callen placed his guns on the desk and his hand up as his former team all leveled their weapons to protect Hetty.

"G….Please." Sam said begging his former partner to give up without a fight. Although he could already see his body tensing.

"Hetty…Please I just need to know, where was she?" Callen looked at the woman he had trusted more than anyone in his life and in his heart prayed that she would tell him.

"Washington. D.C." Hetty said simply, "She was there." She glanced at the file on her desk, which she knew contained Nell's whereabouts.

Callen gave the ghost of a smile, "Thank you." He said.

He slowly moved to put his hands down as Rob moved to cuff him. In one swift fluid movement, he had his gun in one hand and Rob in a neck hold. "Grab the file put it in the bag." He snarled as his team members watched amazed at the change in attitude of their former teammate.

"Mr. Callen, I have to know….Are you Feral?" Hetty asked as he backed up to the door.

"Hetty I'm exactly what you made me…I am nothing and will always be that." He said as he reached the door; with a swift kick, he sent Dawson flying into Kensi and Sam.

Callen was gone.

* * *

"Eric, look on the cameras, find him!" Deeks called.

"No." Sam countermanded the order, "Hetty we need to go to Washington. We need to know what's in that file." Sam said.

Hetty nodded.

"Mr. Beale, four tickets to Washington D.C. next available flight." She said she then took the team aside, "You will meet up at the Navy yard with Agent Gibbs, Miss Jones has been staying with him. Apparently he insisted when he found out about her condition." She told them.

"She must have had the baby by now…was it taken with her?" Kensi asked.

"No, the babies were with Ms Scuito and Agent McGee for the night. They are both well."

"Twins?" Deeks grinned. "What sort?" he asked.

"Boy and girl." Hetty told them. "They need their mother and we need to get Mr. Callen back, he needs to know…I was wrong." They were surprised to hear Hetty admit that aloud, and then Sam understood.

"We will find him and protect them and bring them all home, G's family is here we need him, he's not worthless or feral, and he is wanted." Sam said with utter conviction. "Come on guys."

He grabbed his bag and the others followed him out of the mission.

In the car on the way to the airport Rob's curiosity overcame him, "What was with the speech before we left Sam?" he asked.

"The bullpen is bugged." Sam said simply.

"But the building is routinely swept?" Rob said confused.

"It is, but we knew about this one, it just wasn't confirmed active till today."

"How?" Deeks asked.

"Callen turned up didn't he, how do you think he knew Nell was in danger, he's been listening in to us, no matter how far gone he's trying to make us believe he is….he's not there yet."

* * *

Callen sat listening into the conversation in the bullpen stunned, two children….twins!

He was a father, and the mother of his children needed him to bring her home to raise them. He nearly crashed the jeep as Hetty said she was wrong and listened to Sam's impassioned plea to bring him and his family home.

He pulled up at the airport, booked his ticket under a false name, and got on the plane, this was not a passenger aircraft; for speed, he had managed to get a ride on a cargo plane and as he rested in the back, he thought about his children and his own father.

He wondered of his children, if either were blonde-haired and blue eyed like him or if they took after their mother.

He wished that Hetty had said what their names were, although maybe it was better for him if he did not know, as he would not see them grow up. He understood now why his own father had never claimed him, even though he knew he was alive. Despite Hetty's protestations she had been right, he was a danger to them, he would save Nell, leave her with Gibbs and disappear, he could keep and eye on his children from a distance and therefore keep them safe.

He slept, knowing that when he landed rest would be a luxury and he dreamt of two small children for the first time in a year.

* * *

As he landed the chilly Washington, wind whipped around his shirt and he pulled his jacket out of his bag. He slipped out of the airport avoiding the terminal not realizing the plane that was coming into land as he left the gate was carrying his old team.

Not even thinking he made his way along the familiar streets to East Laurel Drive where Agent Gibbs lived. He found a spot across the road where he could watch without being seen.

Gibbs looked out of the window he had a thought that someone was watching him. He picked up the phone and checked in with Tim and Abby who were looking after Nell's babies. He had arrived back the night before with dinner for Nell to find the door open and she was gone.

He had looked around and found the US Marshall's that had been guarding her dead in the garden. Having called Abby and made sure the babies were safe with her and Tim; he had called Hetty and let her know. Granted he had not known why she was in protection but as soon as he had found out these were Callen's babies, he had pulled every string to be able to protect her.

Over the year they had grown close, Gibbs telling her of the Callen he knew and she doing the same for him. He had even been there when Casey and Amy were born.

Then months after they were born the twins had ingratiated themselves with the whole team, Nell had helped the team with computer work from home, but nothing big enough to cause her to blip anyone's radar and then the twins were due their six-week check. Nell had gone to a local doctor who was dating Marco Michelli's sister. This had gone unnoticed in the Marshall's checks and he had been able to tell his soon to be brother in law where Nell was staying.

Luckily, Abby had been begging Nell for weeks to be able to have both babies overnight and having dragged Tim in to babysit with her, they had talked her into a well-needed respite night.

Looking again out of the window, Gibbs raised a bottle of beer in Callen's direction and walked down to his basement.

Moments after he'd poured himself a drink he heard the bottle upstairs opening and he looked up as a thinner and more battered Callen than he remembered descended the stairs.

"Callen, welcome back to the human race," He deadpanned.

Callen sat on the bottom step, "What happened Jethro, you were supposed to keep her safe?" He asked tiredly.

Gibbs took a drink and sat on an old sawhorse. "The doctor treating your children…he knew the Michelli's, it missed a Marshall's background check."

"The kids…they're sick?" Callen asked instantly worried.

"Nope. Healthy as horses." Gibbs smiled. "Your kids are red heads." He told the younger man.

Callen allowed himself a small smile. "Yeah?"

"Casey and Amy," Callen was told, he could not contain the smile she had named his daughter after his sister. Then he wiped his face clear.

"They'll need their mother, I don't want them growing up in the system." He said earnestly.

"The need their father too." Gibbs said hoping to talk some sense into his friend.

"No!" Callen stood up, "Hetty's right, I'll only get them killed, and I have the Michelli's after me and the Comescu's. I understand now why my father didn't raise me….it's too dangerous, I'm a feral Gibbs, no one's child and my children are better off not knowing me!" he stated.

You're wrong, Gibbs thought, but knowing the other man like he did he knew better than to make him run off again.

Gibbs just nodded, "Rest now Callen, we'll find Nell in the morning,"

"I'll rest when she's safe. Will you help me save her Gibbs?" He asked, grabbing his bag ready to run if his old friend said no.

"We all will." Sam said, "We've got your back G." he and the team stood at the top of the stairs.

Callen shot off across the room, gun in hand. "Sam…Why?"

"Because despite your bout of temporary insanity, we are family G, Nell is family and we save our own." Sam said.

Callen lowered the gun…he was not sure, really where he stood, but for her…he would trust them.

* * *

TBC IN SALVATION!

 


End file.
